Vitex, Chaste-tree

Vitex agnus-castus

Verbenaceae (Verbenaceae)

▲ mature plant

▲▼ flowers

▲ leaves

Location on campus:  at northwest corner of Craig Hall, across from southeast entrance of Karls Hall

Vitex agnus-castus: Vitex, Chaste-tree

·         leaves deciduous, opposite, palmately compound with entire-margined leaflets; leaflets are 2-4" long and 1/4 as wide; gray-green in color, glabrous above, slightly pubescent underneath

·         stems are slender, gray-green to gray-brown, angled with large, angled pith; older stems/trunks get blocky bark

·         flowers are lilac-purple in terminal panicles in late summer on current season’s growth            

·         grows 15-25' tall and 2/3 as wide in southern areas as a small tree; more of a shrub in north and may die back to ground in cold winters

·         prefers full sun, moist, well-drained soil

·         fast growth rate

·         relatives of this plant produce chemicals that repel insects and act as insect growth regulators

    ·         a related species Vitex negundo:  Chaste-tree

o   leaves similar to above, but with serrate margins on leaflets

o   more herbaceous-appearing stem growth than V. agnus-castus

o   flowers, height, growth habit and rate similar